A Virginia man is facing a first-degree murder charge after authorities say he shot and killed his wife, having previously written that the collapse of their marriage was “too much to bear.”
Roger Bradford, 60, was charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in connection with the death of his wife, 54-year-old Lisa Bradford, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said this week.
The couple lived on the 24000 block of Quimby Oaks Place in Aldie, Virginia, an unincorporated community roughly 40 miles west of Washington, D.C. Investigators say Lisa Bradford was killed there on Tuesday.
According to court records obtained by NBC affiliate WRC, Roger Bradford shot his wife and then phoned a relative, apologizing for what he had done. He reportedly told the relative he planned to kill himself and asked them to pick up the couple’s teenage daughter so she wouldn’t be the one to discover her mother’s body.
That relative alerted police. Deputies arrived at the home around 12:10 p.m. and found Lisa Bradford dead. Her husband was already gone.
Authorities say Bradford had taken a rental car and driven roughly two and a half hours north into Pennsylvania. State police there took him into custody at about 3:15 p.m.
Court filings reviewed by Law&Crime offer some context on what had been happening in the couple’s lives leading up to the killing.
Bradford had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud tied to a kickback scheme in Iowa dating back to 2019. He was sentenced to prison time, and in a January appeal filing, he said his mental health had deteriorated behind bars.
“I was suicidal many nights,” he wrote, adding that his felony conviction had cost him his professional reputation and personal relationships.
One passage in that same filing stood out for what it said about his marriage.
“My marriage with my wife Lisa is now headed to divorce as the pressures and injustice of this nightmare took its toll on our marriage and our life together,” he wrote. “The fact that my X-year marriage to this incredible woman is likely coming to an end is too much to bear.”
Lisa Bradford was a member of the Dulles Area Association of Realtors, which described her in a statement as “a valued member of our community” whose “presence and kindness will be deeply missed.”
“On behalf of our entire association and the real estate community, we extend our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew her,” the group said. “May she rest in peace, and may her memory continue to live on in the hearts of those who knew and loved her.”
